Happily Ever After in Disguise
by FutureDetective12
Summary: Olivia Benson is tired of being alone and she has already given up on her happily ever after but they always come when you least expect them. Who would have known that hers would come in the form of two little girls with a secret and their father that has no clue. LIVID!
1. Chapter 1

**Ahhhh! Story number two! I hope you guys enjoy this one. I really like David Haden and Olivia together, the writers should have left them together. Besides Elliot, he is the only person that I like with her and like seriously those writers could have done a much better job on the season 12 finale, it did not do those characters justice at all. But it's over now so Liv has to move on. I know this is not how Livid goes but this is an idea that I had. Please read and review.**

***David won't come into the story until chapter 3.**

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**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Law and Order: SVU or it's characters!**

Chapter 1

Olivia Benson was tired, and not the kind of tired that could be fixed with simply going to sleep. She was tired of being alone. She was tired of people that abused their kids when they were such a blessing to have. All Olivia wanted was a baby and maybe a man that would love her even after he saw all of her scars and knew everything that she had been through but time was ticking. She was almost forty-two years old and had pretty much given up on her happily ever after.

It had been a rough three days. The case they had really through her for a loop. Three kids had been brought into the hospital and they showed signs of being physical and sexual abuse. After lots of investigating they found out that it was the mother and step father and when Olivia and Fin went to pick them up they were no where to be found. When they finally found them they had a gun and shot at Olivia with it. Luckily it had only grazed her arm and they had still been able to catch them but it could have been much worse.

They had just closed the case and Cragen had sent them all home for the weekend. Olivia had stopped by the store and then headed back to her apartment. When she made it to her door she sat down her bags and rummaged through her purse looking for the keys. She had just pulled them out when she felt something hit her leg.

Turning around she saw that it was a little girl. She was about three and had blue eyes and brown hair that was put into two braids. "Hi sweetie, what are you doing?" Olivia asked her after she had bent down to her level.

"Hide and seek!" the little girl said happily.

Then another girl came from around the corner. "Amber what are you doing?" she said with a laugh. This girl was older, she looked to be about twelve and had brown hair and brown eyes. She was tall and had a few freckles on her face.

"Playing game." she said with a giggle.

"I thought that I told you we had to stay in the house." the older girl said to Amber as she picked her up. Turning to Olivia she said "I'm sorry if she bothered you. I must have forgotten to lock the door and she escaped."

"Oh, no she didn't bother me. She's precious. I'm Olivia what's your name?" she asked the girl.

"I'm Leah and this is Amber. It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too." Olivia said with a smile.

"Would you like me to help you carry your groceries in?" Leah asked while shifting Amber to her other hip.

"If you want to."

She put down her little sister and picked up the bags that Olivia had sat down. Olivia unlocked the door and they all three walked into the apartment. Leah went into the kitchen to put the bags down and Amber stayed with Olivia.

"Livia, hurt your arm?" Amber asked her sweetly.

"Yes, at work." she answered in a way that a little girl could understand.

Leah walked into the room just as she said that. "Where do you work?" she asked curiously.

"I'm a police officer." Olivia answered.

"Oh, that's cool. Well I think that we should get going but I'm glad we met." Leah said, picking up her baby sister.

"We come back Livia?" Amber asked before Olivia could say anything.

"Yeah sweetie. Drop by anytime I'm not working." she told the little girl.

"Thank you Olivia. Bye!" Leah said and turned to walk out the door.

"Bye Livia!" Amber squealed.

"Bye guys, hope to see you soon." she said to them before closing the apartment door and going to put away her groceries.

That night Olivia went to bed with a smile on her face for the first time in a while. Those girls had brightened up her day and she didn't know it yet but they would eventually brighten up her whole life.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for all of the amazing reviews! You guys are awesome! I'm going on vacation in like twenty days so I'll try and update as much as I can before then because I start school a few days after I get back and updates will slow down a little bit. Please read and review! :)**

** Chapter 2**

"Benson, home now!" Cragen said as he was walking out of his office about to head home himself.

"I have paperwork to finish Cap. And it's only 8:00." she told him. It was pretty much the truth but it wasn't her paperwork that she was finishing because she was already done.

"No Liv, Amaro and Fin have paperwork to finish. They are big boys and they can do the paperwork themselves when they come in tomorrow. Plus I'm the boss so it doesn't matter what time it is."

"How did you-" she started to ask but was interrupted by her boss.

"I saw you go to their desks and get it. Now get out of here you need to get some rest and I'm gonna walk you out and watch you drive away so I'll know that you actually left. Now get your stuff." Cragen walked over and stood beside her desk to wait for her.

Olivia gathered all of her things and walked out of the precinct in front of Don. Like he told her he would, Don waited until she had gotten into her car and drove away from the 1-6 before he climbed into his car and drove away himself.

Olivia had been sitting on her couch for about twenty minutes when she heard a knock on her door. She got up and looked through the peep hole to see Leah and Amber standing on the other side. "Hi girls." she said to them after opening the door.

"Livia!" Amber squealed reaching for her. Since her arm had healed she was able to lift her so she leaned over and took Amber from her sister's arms. "Hey Olivia." Leah said with a smile after she handed her sister to the Detective. "Amber wanted to come see you but if this is a bad time then we can leave." she said nervously.

"No, it's not a bad time. Come on in guys." she backed up so that they could enter her apartment.

Today Amber had on a pink dress and her hair was in a ponytail on top of her head. Leah was wearing a pair of jeans and a neon orange shirt with her hair down and silver earrings in her ears.

She lead the girls over to her couch and they all sat down. "So how old are you guys?" she asked Leah after they were all comfortable on her sofa.

"I'm twelve and Amber is two." Leah answered with a smile. They talked for a few more minutes before she asked "Hey do you mind if I use your bathroom?"

"No, not at all. It's that door right there." Olivia answered pointing to her bathroom door. Leah walked into the bathroom and closed the door leaving Olivia alone with Amber. The little girl climbed into her lap and sat down. She leaned over a little to far and almost fell out of Olivia's lap. Olivia grabbed Amber around the waste to keep her from falling and the little girl cried out in pain.

"What's wrong Lovie?" she asked the little girl after she had her cradled in her lap. "Tummy." she said quietly with a tear in her eye. Olivia lifted Amber's shirt to see two large bruises and something that looked like a cigarette burn on her stomach. Just as she had put Amber's shirt back down Leah walked out of the bathroom.

"Leah, honey come here." she said to the older girl. When she was standing in front of her Olivia continued. "I need you to be completely honest with me okay?" when Leah nodded she went on, "Is somebody hurting you guys?" she asked.

"What? No! Why do you ask that?" Leah replied and it was visible that she was freaking out.

"Because Amber was in my lap while ago and she almost fell off so I grabbed her and when I did she cried out in pain so I looked at her stomach and saw the bruises. Can you tell me how she got all bruised up?" Olivia pressed.

"Well she bruises easily and the other day she fell off my bed." Leah said while trying to keep the worry out of her voice.

Olivia lifted up the toddler's shirt and pointed to the thing that she was almost sure was a cigarette burn. "Well then what is this?" she asked. She didn't want to scare them away but if something was going on she needed to know so that she could get them out of there.

"It's just a scab, no big deal." Leah shrugged.

"Leah baby if somebody is hurting you then you need to tell me and I can get you guys out of there." Olivia said and leaned back against the couch with Amber still in her lap. The toddler rubbed her eyes and leaned into Olivia.

"Nobody is hurting us, Liv, I promise. Thanks for letting us come over but Amber is tired so we should go." Leah told her with a forced smile.

Seeing that she would get nothing else out of the girl, Olivia let her go. "Okay. Bye girls and if you ever need anything come let me know okay?"

"Okay Liv. We'll see you later. Bye!" Leah lifted her sister out of Olivia's lap and they walked out of the apartment door. Sighing, Olivia walked back over to her couch and sat down.

She knew that something was up with those girls and she had to find out what it was before one of them got seriously hurt.


	3. Chapter 3

It was 5:00 on Christmas Eve and Cragen had all but dragged Olivia out of the precinct. She tried her best to get him to allow her to stay but the answer was no. Why did he care if she was at home for Christmas anyways? She had nobody to celebrate with and she would probably just go home and try to sleep until Christmas was over.

As she drove to her apartment she couldn't help but think just how alone she was. Her friends consisted mostly of the people she worked with and none of her boyfriends could deal with all of her damage.

When she made it to her apartment building she broke down before she even got out of the car. She was sick and tired of being alone and it was finally getting to her. After about fifteen minutes, she composed herself and got out of her car.

When she made it to her apartment Olivia quickly out on a pair of grey sweats and a green tank top then settled on the couch to watch tv until she fell asleep.

She hadn't been laying there for twenty minutes when somebody knocked on the door. Right now she didn't even care enough to see who it was first so she just unlocked the door and opened it. The smile that spread across her face when she saw who was knocking was huge. "Hey Leah, Amber, what are you guys doing here?" Olivia asked happily.

"We bringed cookies." Amber said in her happy toddler voice as she reached for Olivia. Olivia took the child into her arms and stepped back so Leah could enter.

"We baked some Christmas cookies and decided to bring you some." Leah said and held up a basket full of cookies.

"Well thank you girls so much." Olivia said as they walked into the apartment and sat down on the sofa. Olivia noticed that Leah was limping and decided to see if she could get anything out of her. "Leah, why are you limping?" she asked after they were all settled.

"I tripped on a pillow that Amber had on the floor." she said while looking at her feet. "Twisted my ankle."

"Are you sure that's all that happened?" Olivia questioned.

"Yes, I am absolutely sure." Leah replied with a little less confidence than she would have liked.

"Okay then. Hey, not that I'm not happy you guys are here but shouldn't you be spending Christmas with your family?"

"Well our Mom doesn't celebrate Christmas but our Dad is suppose to be coming to get us at like seven so we can spend Christmas with him. We haven't seen him in a month so we're really excited." Leah informed her happily and this made Olivia realize that it had to be their mother abusing them. "What about you? Where is your family?"

"I don't have one. I have always wanted children and a husband but it just doesn't seem like it will happen for me. I guess I'm just not a happily ever after kind of person." Olivia said with a sad look in her eyes.

"Lee! I firsty." Amber told her big sister before she could say anything back to Olivia.

"Drink your cup then." she replied.

"Empty." Amber said while shaking the cup up and down.

"Well we'll have to go home and get you more." Leah said and then stood up. She went to grab her sister but Olivia said "Why don't I get her some milk from the kitchen and then you guys can stay and help me eat those cookies while you wait on your Dad?

"I'd like that." Leah said with a smile.

"Okay I'll be right back." Olivia stood up and walked towards the kitchen. She filled Amber's cup with milk and then poured a cup for herself and one for Leah. She carried that into the living room and sat them down on the table and went to get the table beside her door to get the cookies. After everything was ready she got back on the couch and snacked on cookies with the girls.

"Hey Liv?" Leah started and when Olivia looked up she continued. "Where is your tree?"

"Well since it's just me I usually don't have one. I used to put one up every year with my best friend but-" she said but stopped when the memories of Elliot filled her head.

"But what?" Leah asked before taking a sip of her milk.

"But he left me." Olivia said sadly. Talking about Elliot was bringing up a lot of memories that she preferred to keep buried deep inside.

"You mean he just left? Without a goodbye or anything?" Leah questioned.

"Yeah but it was a year ago, I'm over it." By now Olivia felt the tears pricking at the corners of her eyes.

"You never get over losing your best friend. Trust me, I know." Leah said with a sad expression on her face and then it lit up again. "Hey, do you mind watching Amber for five minutes? I need to go get something from our apartment."

"Yeah, sure." Olivia said, wondering what she was up to. Leah got up and jogged out of Olivia's apartment. She had an idea to brighten up her Christmas.

In a few minutes Leah returned with a small Christmas tree and an envelope in her hands. "There, now you have a tree. It's small but it's all we've got. Do you like it?"

"I absolutely love it. Thank you."Olivia said with a bright smile on her face. Then Leah handed her the envelope.

When she opened it Olivia found a Christmas card. On the front it said Merry Christmas. She opened it up and saw a picture of Leah and Amber with bright smiles on their faces stuck inside the card, she took the photo out and read what Leah had written inside. It read:

_Dear Liv, _

_ We hope that we helped to brighten up your Christmas. You are an awesome person and you deserve everything in the world. One day you will get your happily ever after. Just keep believing that you will, anyone would be lucky to have you as a wife or a mother. If anybody deserves a fairy tail ending it's you. Merry Christmas!_

_ Love always, Leah and Amber_

This brought tears to Olivia's eyes. "Thank you. This means a lot." she said and gave the girl a hug. "Thank you too, Jellybean!" she said to the smaller girl that had taken residence on her lap.

Half an hour later she heard something ring and watched Leah pull a cell phone out of her pocked. She listened to the only end of the conversation that she could hear. "Hey Dad! We came to visit a neighbor. You should come and meet her. Apartment 14C. Okay, see you in a few. Bye dad."

"Take it that was your Dad." Olivia said with a small laugh.

"Yeah he went to our apartment and we weren't there so he called to see where we were. I told him to come meet you. Do you mind?"

"No, not at all." Olivia said smiling.

When they heard a knock on the door Leah jumped up to answer it. "Dad!" she exclaimed after opening the door. She gave the man a big hug and then lead him into Olivia's apartment.

When she saw the man Olivia instantly felt an attraction to him. He was tall and muscular with light brown eyes and short dark brown hair. He was wearing a pair of dark jeans and a red polo shirt.

"Dad come meet Olivia."Leah said to him.

When he caught sight of this woman he was blown away. She was wearing pajamas but she looked positively gorgeous. She had big mocha brown eyes and beautiful long brown hair. This woman was stunning and he wanted to get to know her better.

Olivia placed Amber on her hip and walked over towards Leah and her father. "Daddy!"Amber squealed and reached for the man. Olivia handed her to him and then stuck out her hand for him to shake.

"I'm Olivia Benson." she told him with a big smile while shaking his hand.

"David Haden." he said with a smile equally as big.


	4. Chapter 4

**Well so far I have lots of positive reviews for this story. I hope that you guys like this chapter. Please R&R! :)**

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Chapter 4

"It's nice to meet you Olivia. My children have told me a lot about you." David told the beautiful woman standing in front of him.

"It's nice to meet you too, David." she told him with a smile.

"It's Christmas, where is your family?" the handsome man asked curiously and when he heard his oldest daughter slap her forehead with her hand he knew that he asked the wrong question.

With a sad look in her eye, Olivia answered "I don't have any family. It's just me."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Well if my girls don't mind you can come and spend Christmas with us. Girls?" he asked as he looked at his daughters.

"Fine with me." Leah said and then Amber piped up. "Livia!" she said with a big smile on her face.

"I'm not some crazy murdering rapist, I promise. I'm an EADA. I'm actually suppose to work some cases for SVU in a few weeks and Leah told me you work there." he said when he saw her hesitation.

"Well since I know that I won't be killed, yes I would love that. Are you sure I wouldn't be intruding?" she asked nervously.

"No, not at all. The girls said that they didn't mind so your good. Now go pack a bag and you can stay in out guest room for the night." David told her with a smile. He was planning to ask her out before the night was up.

"Okay then. Give me ten minutes and I'll be ready to go." she said with a smile and headed towards her bedroom. She grabbed a duffel bag out of her closet and threw in a set of clothes for tomorrow and the two gifts that she had planned to give to the girls before they went home that night. Then she went into her bathroom and grabbed her toothbrush, toothpaste, and deodorant. She put it into the bag and zipped it up and headed into the living room. "Ready." she said to the three people sitting in her living room

"Here, let me carry your bag." David said as he reached for it.

"I got it." Olivia said before he could take it from her hands.

"No you don't. A lady as pretty as you should never have to carry her own bags. Let me see it." David said and with a small smile Olivia handed him her bag.

"Thank you." Olivia said to him. He was handsome _and_ a gentleman and even though they had just met, Olivia was pretty sure that she was falling for him.

They all walked out of the apartment and into the hallway. Olivia locked the door to her apartment and they all headed downstairs and piled into David's car. After being on the road for about five minutes they pulled up to a small store that was surprisingly open. "I'll be back in five minutes." David said before getting out of the car and walking into the store. He needed to find a Christmas present for Olivia so that she would have something under the tree in the morning. He walked down the aisle until he came across a pair of heart shaped earrings and a matching necklace. He quickly purchased it and went back to the car with the bag in his hands.

They drove for ten more minutes before David pulled the car into the driveway of a two story house with a light yellow vinyl siding and white trimmed windows. All of them except for Amber got out of the car and David told his oldest daughter to come help him with the bags. "I can help." Olivia told him.

"Your our guest. We'll get the bags, why don't you grab Amber?" he asked the beautiful creature standing in front of him and without waiting for and answer, turned around and went to get the bags.

Olivia walked around to the other side of the car and opened the door. She carefully unbuckled the sleeping toddler and lifted her out of the seat. She put Amber on her hip and placed her head on her shoulder before closing the door of the car and walking around to where Leah and David were. He shut the trunk and they all four headed towards the house with Leah leading the way. That's when David noticed that she was limping.

"Leah, baby why are you limping?" he asked clueless. Olivia knew that she needed to talk to him about what she thought was going on but she had no idea how to bring it up.

"Amber left a pillow in the floor and I tripped and twisted my ankle." she lied, hoping her father didn't notice.

"Are you alright?" he asked, not picking up that his daughter wasn't telling him the truth.

"Yeah. I'm fine Daddy."she answered a little to quickly and Olivia noticed.

Satisfied with her answer, David unlocked the door and lead the three girls into the house. This was the most beautiful house that Olivia had ever seen. The living room was the color of a dark red apple with beige furniture and the whole downstairs was very open. The kitchen was green and very simple. It wasn't decorated except for a few pictures on the refrigerator which were either of Leah and Amber or drawn by them. Olivia's house marveling was interrupted by David.

"Can you hand me Amber so I can go put her down?" he asked motioning to his sleeping daughter. Olivia passed him the sleeping little girl and he turned to go upstairs.

"He likes you, you know that right?" Leah asked Olivia after her father had disappeared upstairs.

"What? No. We just met there is no way." It wasn't possible, right? She just wasn't girlfriend material. That's what so many of her boyfriends had told her before. How could he like her? She was damaged and scarred and had serious relationship problems.

"Haha. Liv, can't you see it? He invited you to spend Christmas with us after knowing you for five minutes and he is obviously flirting with you. So, do you like him?" Leah asked skeptically. Before Olivia could say anything David came back down the stairs. "So what do you girls want to do tonight?" he asked as he went to open the refrigerator.

"Let's watch a movie." Leah suggested.

"Okay, go find one. You want something to drink Liv?" David asked her with a big smile. Ever since Elliot left she had asked people not to call her Liv but with David she didn't mind.

"Some water would be great." she said with a small smile.

"Okay. Why don't you head into the living room and I'll bring it to you."

"Alright." she said softly and walked into the living room.

Leah had just put a movie in the DVD player and sat down in the chair. Olivia smiled at her and then sat on the couch. She was kind of nervous being around David and she wasn't sure why. Sure she had liked men before but never enough to be nervous around them. She sat and thought about him until she realized that he was calling her name. When she finally looked at him he smiled. "Where did you go, Liv? You were just staring into space." he asked and handed her a glass of water before sitting his glass down and taking the spot beside her on the couch.

"I was just thinking."she told him after taking a sip of her water.

"Care to elaborate?" he asked.

'You' she thought to herself. "Nah. It wasn't anything important." she said with a smile. This man was doing things to her that she wasn't sure if she liked.

"Okay. Shall we watch the movie then?" he asked and leaned into the back of the couch.

Olivia nodded and Leah pressed play. After watching for a few minutes, Olivia figured out that they were watching 'ELF'. They sat and watched the movie and when it went off David looked over and saw that his oldest daughter was asleep in the chair. He tapped Olivia on the shoulder and pointed to Leah. They smiled at each other and David got up to wake his daughter.

"Leah, baby wake up." he whispered to her and lightly shook her shoulder. Her eyes popped open and she grabbed David's hand. "Calm down baby. It's just me." he said in attempt to calm his daughter but the episode didn't go unnoticed by Olivia. 'Somebody has this girl scared to death.' she thought sadly.

"Go on up to bed. Love you, night sweetie." he said to his daughter and gave her a light hug. "Night, Daddy. Love you too." she said sleepily and walked up the stairs.

David shook his head and walked back over to the couch to talk to Olivia. "So, tell me about yourself." he said and took his seat beside her.

"Umm.. well my name is Olivia Marie Benson. I've been a sex crimes detective for almost fourteen years, my favorite color is blue, I'm almost 41, my birthday is January 23, my favorite flower is a yellow rose, I'm single and I have always wanted to go to Paris." she figured she would throw in that she was single just in case. "Now tell me about you."

"Well, my name is David Charles Haden, I'm an Executive Assistant District Attorney, my favorite color is also blue, my favorite sport is baseball, I'm 42, my birthday is September 11, I divorced the girl's mom a year and a half ago, and I am also single." David said, hoping that she threw in that she was single for a reason.

"Cool. Hey, David can I ask you something?" Olivia had to know what was going on with these girls and it was now or never.

"Yeah. Shoot."

"Okay, now don't freak out on me, but is there any way that some one could be hurting your girls?" she asked nervously. She was almost sure it wasn't him but there was always a possibility.

"WHAT" he yelled but when he saw Olivia flinch he calmed down a bit. "Sorry, why do you think that somebody is hurting them?" he asked with the worry evident on his face.

"Because the other day the girls were over at my house and Leah had to use the bathroom. Well while she was gone Amber was sitting on my lap and she leaned over too far and almost fell off. I grabbed her by the waist to keep her from falling and she started to cry, when I asked her what was wrong she said "tummy" so I lifted up her shirt and there were two big bruises and something that looked like a cigarette burn. When I asked Leah about it she said that she bruises easily and that she fell off of her bed and she said the other mark was just a scab. I have worked Special Victims for fourteen years and they show signs of some one who is being abused, and now today Leah is limping." she told him.

"You t-think s-somebody is hurting my girls?" he asked with tears forming in his eyes.

"Yes, David, I do." she said sadly.

"Well, w-what do I do?" he asked while wiping his tears.

"You need to talk to them David. See if Leah will tell you and don't give up easily, I have tried to her about it but she denies it."

"Will you talk to them with me?" he asked the woman in front of him nervously.

"I will try, if you want but if they won't say anything with me around then your gonna have to do it by yourself. They need help."

"Okay. We can do it tomorrow night. I want them to be able to enjoy their Christmas first."

"That sounds like a good idea and after we talk to them I'm going to head home so that you can have some alone time with your girls."

"I have them until New Years, and if their Mom is hurting them I will have them until they are eighteen. You can stay as long as you want."

"Thanks but I think you guys need to have some family time." she said with a yawn.

"Okay. Are you ready to head upstairs and go to sleep?" he asked, taking notice of her yawn.

"Yeah, that would be great." Olivia smiled.

"Come on. I'll show you to your room." he said then stood and held out his hand to her. She took it and he pulled her up then they both walked up the stairs. When they came to a door on the left in the middle of the hallway David stopped and turned towards her. "This is your room." he said with a smile.

"Thanks. Goodnight, David. I really appreciate you inviting me over here. It's nice to have people to spend Christmas with instead of being alone." she said with a sad smile.

"Your welcome, we're glad to have you. Goodnight." he said and started to walk away before he got a boost of courage and turned back around. "Hey, Liv?" he called and she turned towards him. "I was wondering, when I get everything straightened out with the girls, will you maybe consider going out with me?" he asked nervously but when he saw her beautiful smile he felt a little more confident.

"I would love that, David." she said happily. He liked her! He really liked her! Olivia was over the moon happy and it showed on her face.

"Okay!" David laughed. His face mirrored Olivia's and he felt like he would explode inside.

"Okay!" Olivia repeated. "Well, I'm gonna go to bed now. Goodnight." she smiled brightly at him.

"Alright, 'night Liv." he said and went to his room across the hall.

They both went to sleep with mixed emotions that night. Happy that the other shared feelings for them and worried about the two little girls asleep down the hall.


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay guys so thank you for all of the reviews on this story. I'm a huge LIVID fan but there isn't a lot so stories so I decided to write one but I wasn't expecting people to like it. :) Hope you like the chapter.**

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**I have an idea for a real life story but I wasn't sure if anybody would read it or not. Just let me know if your into the idea and I'll post a summary with the next chapter if you want.**

Chapter 5

The next morning David was woken up by his two daughters. They came into his room and jumped on his bed. Leah had always been a mature kid but her and David had always made Christmas a lot of fun and now they were going to start to introduce Amber to their traditions.

"Up Daddy!" his youngest daughter squealed as she bounced up and down on the bed beside him. Leah plopped down on the end of the bed and laughed at her baby sister's attempts to get their

Dad out of bed. David woke up and just laid there inwardly laughing at his baby. When she realized that jumping wouldn't work, Amber wobbled over to where he big sister was and turned around and ran back over to where her Dad was laying then jumped on his stomach.

When she landed David grabbed her and started tickling her sides, making the two year old laugh hysterically. "Grrrr!" he said while tickling his daughter. After he stopped and let her calm down, David kissed his daughter on the head and told her good morning then got up and did the same to his oldest. "Merry Christmas girls. Should we go wake up Olivia?" he suggested.

"Livia!" Amber exclaimed making her Dad and big sister laugh.

"Merry Christmas Daddy. Let's go." Leah said and walked out of the room followed by David who was carrying Amber.

When they were all at Olivia's doorway David looked at Amber and put his finger to his lip. "Shhh!" Amber told him with a smile and he nodded. Leah slowly and quietly opened the door to the guest room and they all entered very quietly. David put Amber on the bed beside Olivia and then he and Leah got on and started jumping up and down.

Startled from her sleep, Olivia jumped up so quickly that she almost fell out of the bed. When she caught herself she looked up to see David and Leah jumping up and down beside her and Amber sitting there looking at her. When they stopped jumping and sat down on the bed Olivia picked up Amber and placed her in her lap. "Good morning, Jellybean." she said to the toddler as she lightly tickled her. "Morning Leah. Morning David. Merry Christmas." she smiled.

"Merry Christmas, Liv." they both said at the same time.

"Mewy Chismas Livia!" Amber said and grabbed Olivia's nose making them all laugh.

"Alright, let's go downstairs and get some breakfast." David said and that's what they did.

When they got into the kitchen Leah and Olivia sat on bar stools while Amber sat in the floor and played with toys. "What do you guys want to eat?" David asked, opening up the refrigerator.

"Pancake." Amber said from the floor, never looking up from her toys.

"That good with you two?" he asked Leah and Olivia.

"Let's have sausage with it." Leah said to her father. "I'm gonna go and get my phone, be right back."

"Okay." David called after his daughter and then looked at Olivia with a raised eyebrow. "Good with you?" he asked.

"Yes. Do you want me to help?" she offered.

"Nope. Just sit over there and look pretty." he accidentally said the last part out loud and blushed when he realized it.

"No problem." she giggled. '_Did I really just giggle?_' she thought to herself. David just smiled at her and started cooking.

After they had all eaten it was decided that they would open presents. The four walked into the living room and gathered around the Christmas tree. "You guys ready?" David asked the girls.

"Wait, I forgot something upstairs." Olivia said and headed upstairs to get the presents for Leah and Amber. She opened her bag and pulled out the packages then went to rejoin the others.

"Ready!" she said when she was back with the Hadens.

Amber opened her presents first, with some help from her Dad. She got some clothes and lots of toys that she wanted to play with right away. "Here you go, Amber." Olivia said and handed her the present that she had bought. Amber smiled her beautiful toddler smile and started to open the gift. When she got the paper off she saw a baby doll. It had on a pink dress with white border and a bonnet to match.

"Tank you, Livia!" Amber said and went to give her a hug. Olivia hugged the toddler back and when she let go the little girl sat down in her lap with her doll. Olivia laughed and hugged her. Then it was Leah's turn to open presents.

From her father she received clothes, shoes, make-up, and a charm bracelet. Then it was Olivia's turn to give her a present. She handed over the present and Leah smiled at her and said thank you before opening the present.

"Liv, it's beautiful." she said as she admired the necklace. It was only a simple necklace but Leah really liked it. It was a silver chain with an L aquamarine colored pendant on the end. She had mentioned on one of her visits with Olivia that her birthday was in March so Olivia got the color of her birthstone. "Will you help me put it on?" she asked nervously.

"Sure, come here." Olivia smiled. Leah scooted over to Olivia and she reached over Amber to put the necklace around Leah's neck.

"Thanks. I'm gonna go and look at it in the mirror." she said and got up to go and look in the bathroom mirror. Amber jumped out of Olivia's lap and ran behind her sister leaving David and Olivia alone in the living room.

"Thank you, Liv. You didn't have to do that." David said when his daughters had disappeared into the bathroom.

"I wanted to. Your girls are amazing." she smiled and before either had the chance to say anything else they came back into the room.

"Daddy's turn!" Amber said when they sat back down.

"Go get his present." Leah told her and the little girl ran over to the tree to look for the present. She came back with a square box that wasn't wrapped.

"Dis one?" she asked her big sister.

"No, the other one." Leah said. Her father had told her last night that he picked up something for Olivia. Amber went and grabbed the other box from under the tree and took it to David.

He opened it up to find a pale green dress shirt and a navy blue tie. "Thank you girls." he said and held out his arms. Leah hugged him first followed by Amber but instead of letting go of her, David picked up the left over box and whispered something in her ear. When she pulled away, Amber took the box and walked over to Olivia.

"Here go, Livia!" she said and gave her the box.

Olivia opened the box and saw the necklace, bracelet, and earrings that were inside. She could feel the tears stinging her eyes as she smiled and thanked them.

"Daddy?" Amber asked as she pulled on David's sleeve.

"Yes, baby?" he answered.

"Watch tv." she said so David picked her up and carried her over to the couch. He sat her down and handed her a cup of juice, then turned on Mickey Mouse and, when he saw that his daughter was satisfied, went back to Leah and Olivia.

"Hey, Leah, do you mind taking yours and Amber's presents upstairs?"

"No, I don't mind." she said started carrying their presents to their rooms.

"Did you like the present, Liv?" he asked the woman sitting beside him.

"I loved it, but you didn't have to. I didn't get anything for you."

"I wanted to." he smiled. "And you got the girls something, don't worry about me."

Olivia tried her best to hold back the tears but failed miserably. They fell down her face involuntarily and she tried to wipe them away before David could see them but he saw them anyways. "What's wrong?" he asked worridly.

"Nothings wrong. I'm just really happy to be spending Christmas with you guys. It's nice to have people to spend holidays with." she said with a small smile.

"Who do you usually spend them with?" he asked, curiously.

"I usually spend them by myself, I don't have anybody. Listen, I might as well tell you this now so you have a chance to run for the hills before our date. My mother was attacked when she was younger and I am the result of it. She hated me because I was a constant reminder of what happened and she drank to deal with it, after a while the alcohol turned her abusive and she started hitting me. I don't know any of my family on her side, I have a half brother on my dad's side but he only comes around when he needs something. I used to put up a tree but then my best friend stopped helping me so I just stopped." she said while wiping tears from her eyes. She wasn't ready to go into detail about the whole Elliot situation yet. "I'm gonna go now." she said sadly and started to walk off.

"Wait, Liv! I'm not gonna run. I like you and want to give us a try. It doesn't matter where you came from, what matters is who you choose to be and you are something great." he said. He couldn't believe that she had been through all of that. "Come here." he said when he saw the tears still falling. He opened his arms and enveloped Olivia into an embrace. She was extremely glad that he hadn't run like most of the other guys did. Maybe they had a real chance.

He hugged her and stroked her hair until she pulled away. "It's snowing again." she smiled

"Yeah, it is." he said and then had an idea. "Why don't we take the girls out to play in it and then come back in and talk to them about everything?" he suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea." Olivia said happily. They both wanted to make this day as great as possible for the girls before they had to talk to them about what they both knew was happening.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

After an hour of playing in the snow, they all came back into the house and David made cocoa. When he brought into the living room where they were he saw that his youngest daughter had fallen asleep and the other girls were watching a movie. David sat the three cups of cocoa down and picked up Amber so that he could lay her down upstairs.

He carried her into her room and laid her down on the toddler bed before stripping her out of her snow clothes. When she was down to her diaper, the sight in front of him almost made David cry. His baby had bruises all over her torso and all up and down her arms and legs along with three little light colored circles that looked like cigarette burns that were almost healed.

Not even bothering to redress her, David tucked Amber into bed and wiped a stray tear from his eye before kissing her on the forehead and walking to the door. "Goodnight, baby. I love you so so much and I promise, Daddy will never let anybody hurt you again." he whispered to her and turned on the baby monitor before closing the door and going back downstairs.

David glumly walked over to where the girls were sitting and turned off the tv. He took a seat on the couch beside of Olivia. "Leah," he sighed and she looked at him, confused. "I need you to be honest with me. Is your mom hurting you girls?" he asked her and she looked at him with wide eyes.

"What!? No! Where did you get that idea?" she asked frantically and then looked at Olivia. "What have you been telling him?" she asked, voice cracking halfway through.

"Leah Kathrine, you need to tell me the truth. There is something going on because your baby sister's body is covered in bruises and that's NOT nothing." he said, looking her in the eye but she refused to say anything.

"Leah," Olivia started and continued when the twelve year old looked at her. "If your uncomfortable talking in front of me then I can leave." She knew that David wanted her to stay and help him with this but Leah needed to tell him what was happening and if that meant her leaving then so be it.

"N-no, it's not you." she told Olivia then turned to her father. "Um, Daddy, c-can I just talk to Liv?"she asked nervously. She didn't want to tell her dad what had happened to her, she was ashamed.

"If that's what your comfortable with then yes but Liv is gonna have to tell me, you know that right?" he questioned.

"Yeah, I know." she sighed.

"Okay then. Why don't you two go up to your room to talk?" he asked and his daughter nodded then stood up off the couch and walked up the stairs. "You don't mind doing this?" he asked Olivia when she stood to go with Leah.

"No. I'm glad that she trusts me enough to tell me." she said and David sighed. "David, don't beat yourself up over this. It's not your fault, there's no way you could have known." she said but he didn't reply so she turned and went up the stairs to find Leah.

Walking into the young girl's room, Olivia found her laying on the bed with tears in her eyes. She quietly closed the door behind her sat down on the edge of the bed and stroked Leah's hair. "Shh, baby it's gonna be alright." she told the scared girl even though there was no guarantee.

Leah then sat up, sniffled, and wiped her tears. "Okay, I'm ready to tell you now." she told Olivia with another sniffle. "But please just don't touch me or say anything until I finish or I'll never get it all out." Olivia nodded and she continued. "Ever since the divorce, my Mother has been drinking. At first it was just the drinking but then came the yelling and..the h-hitting. She was always drinking and yelled at us for every little thing. One time I dropped a glass and she hit me so much that I was bruised for almost a month." she took a deep breath and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Anytime Amber cried she'd slap her and then c-come after me for not shutting her up. I took care of Amber. Did everything that a mom is _suppose _to do and after Daddy moved out she never even picked her up.

One day she called me Mama, I mean she didn't know, I was the one who took care of her. But that ticked Mother off more than anything. T-that night... it was the worst beating I ever got. It was so b-bad that I passed out and I w-woke up the next day to Amber crying and _her_ passed out on the floor. On the weekends that we were with Daddy, I changed her diaper and clothes so that he wouldn't see any of the bruises. It was like this for a while... then one day s-she... um.. she brought a man h-home." Leah barely choked out the last part before she burst into tears. Olivia just wanted to reach out and give her a hug but Leah had asked her not to so she retained from doing so. "W-when they came in I was s-sitting on the couch giving Amber some baby food. The man looked at me and then told my mom that he'd p-pay to h-have a piece of me... and she let him!" she exclaimed. "'For a few months, i-it was just one man like once a week but then it started hap-happening more and more until it was almost every day. She eventually pulled me out of school and took Amber out of daycare to run her little _business_. I t-told her th-that I was going to tell Daddy and she... she said that if I did she would let them a-all have a turn with Amber and I'd have to...watch. So I just kept quiet. I took as m-many of the beatings that I could so that she wouldn't be hurt but... I-I'm so s-sorry. It's m-my fault that Amber was hurt for this long!" she said and broke down.

Olivia couldn't take it any longer so she slid over and took Leah in her arms. "Baby, you were trying to protect her. If it wasn't for you Amber would have a lot more damage than she does. And NONE of this is your fault. Remember that." she told the girl breaking down in her arms. "Can you show me your bruises?" she asked and Leah slowly pulled away. She stood up and pulled her shirt over her head.

Olivia had seen stuff like this on rape victims but she knew Leah personally and the sight in front of her made her sick to her stomach. Leah's stomach and arms were covered in bruises and she had burns on her chest and arms. Olivia could barely see and inch of clear skin. She slowly turned around and Olivia saw large, raw, blood red welts on her back that looked like she had been struck with a belt... A LOT. It was awful and she hadn't even seen the damage to her legs.

The detective stood up and walked over to Leah. She put her arms around the young girl loosely, being careful of the welts, and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Leah, baby I'm so sorry. Listen, were gonna report this and your mom will go to jail. Nobody will ever hurt you again." she told Leah and the young girl nodded and put her head on Olivia's shoulder.

"Are you hurting?" she asked, stupidly. Of coarse she was hurting, her body had suffered more abuse than anybody's should and she wasn't even a teenager yet.

"Everywhere." Leah told her, voice cracking.

"Okay, you don't need to shower tonight in case there is any evidence left. I'm gonna go downstairs and get you something for the pain. Don't put your shirt back on because it's rubbing your back raw, I'll get your Dad to give you one of his shirts so it'll be looser. I'll be right back. Lay down if you want."

Leah picked her head up from Olivia's shoulder and walked over to her bed with a yawn. She carefully laid down and then looked at Olivia. "Okay, but please don't let Daddy come up here until I'm covered up. You probably want to see the damage to my legs and I don't want him to see this. I know that he thinks all of this is his fault." she said and Olivia nodded. The detective was about to leave when she added "Thank you, Olivia. Without you I wouldn't have told anybody, but I'm glad I did." she told Olivia with the biggest smile she could manage.

"You're so welcome, sweetheart." Olivia smiled back. "I'll be right back, okay?"

Leah nodded and Olivia turned around and exited the room. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes tightly to stop tears from falling. When she had almost coaxed the stinging feeling in her eyes away, Olivia walked down the stairs and into the kitchen where David was leaning against the counter with his head in his hands. She walked over to him and placed a hand on his back.

"What did she say?" he asked immediately.

"We'll discuss it in a few minutes. Right now I need some pain medicine and one of your t-shirts for her." Olivia told him and he nodded then opened the cabinet above his head and pulled out a bottle of Tylenol. He passed it to Olivia and then grabbed a bottle of water out of the refrigerator, passing that to her also.

"I'll go get the shirt. Olivia, was the abuse sexual?" he asked with a choked voice and Olivia knew that her answer would break him.

"Sadly, some of it was." she told him. It was easy to see how hard he was taking this and Olivia knew that he was blaming himself. "David don't beat yourself up over this. Leah told me that she knew you would do this but we all know that this is in no way your fault."

"I know," David sighed. "but that doesn't change the fact that it was going on and I didn't notice. Now why does she need one of my shirts?" he asked as they made their way upstairs.

"There are, um, marks... one her back. I looks like she was hit with a belt and her shirts are rubbing them and making them stay raw so they can't heal." Olivia told him and she could tell it made him just as sick to his stomach, if not more than, it did her.

They were now in David's bedroom and he quickly grabbed a white t-shirt from his drawer and closed it. He was almost halfway out of the room when Olivia's voice stopped him. "Where are you going?" she asked and came to stand beside him.

"I need to see her." he told her and started to walk out of the room again.

"David, wait!" she said and again, he stopped. "She asked me to tell you not to come in until she has a shirt on and I've seen the damage to her legs."

"Why doesn't she want me to see?" he asked.

"She knows that your blaming yourself and she thinks that if you see it then it'll get worse. Also, she didn't tell me this bet I've seen it in other victims, she thinks that if you see what happened that you'll think of her as less of a person. She is probably even thinking it already because you know that she was abused. Now I know you want and you know you won't but she is blaming herself and has it in her mind that you will think it's her fault that Amber was hurt for so long. Listen, I know that you want to bust in there and tell her otherwise but it needs to wait until she's ready to see you. She just told everything that's been happening to her and she just isn't ready to let you see it yet. She's not holding it in anymore. Since she isn't hiding it she will start to act like more of a victim." she said and it was obvious that David was getting frustrated.

"Well I need to see. She'll get over it eventually, I have to go in there." he said and started to walk away.

"David she isn't ready. If you make her show you now she'll pull away from you. She'll show. you when she's ready but that's not right now."

David sighed and reluctantly handed her the t-shirt. He didn't make any effort to talk so she walked away from him and into Leah's room.


	7. Chapter 7

She entered and quietly closed the door behind her. Leah was laying on her bed silently crying. Olivia walked over to the twelve year old and gently rubbed her back. "Hey, shhh, everything is gonna be okay." she said for lack of better words.

Leah sat up and gave Olivia a small, closed mouth smile. "I know. I just can't seem to quit crying."

Olivia smiled back and held up the bottle of Tylenol. "I brought some pain medicine." she said and opened the bottle. She handed a tablet to Leah and then began to put the lid back on.

"Thank you, Olivia." she said to the detective who was holding a bottle of water out to her. "I'm glad that you came to spend Christmas with us."

"Your welcome, Leah. I'm glad that I came too." she told Leah, who was taking the medicine. When Leah had swallowed the pill and closed the bottle of water Olivia decided it was time to see how bad the rest of her injuries were. "Here, baby put this shirt on and then, if you don't mind, I want to see your legs if you don't mind showing me.

Leah took the shirt with a small sigh. "I'll change in the closet." she said and walked over to her closet door. She turned the knob and opened the door before flipping the light switch and going into the closet. She closed the door behind her and stripped off the rest of her clothes and slid her dad's t-shirt over her head, wincing slightly when the shirt hit the welts on her back. She took a deep breath and bent over to pick up the dirty clothes. After throwing them in the hamper, Leah walked out of the closet, turning the light of on the way.

Olivia looked to the closet door when she heard it open and saw Leah come out wearing David's t-shirt that swamped her. She quietly walked over to the bed and stood in front of Olivia. Olivia stood up and bent down to see the damage to Leah's legs. They resembled her stomach, bruised and burned. Olivia shook her head and asked asked Leah to hold the shirt up to her thighs. Leah obliged and Olivia looked at the backs of her legs. They looked almost worse than her back.

The young girl's legs were covered in the same welts that were on her back and some of them were bleeding a little. "Leah, baby this is awful. Listen, tonight I want you to lay on your stomach. The marks on your legs look really bad and you probably shouldn't lay on them." she informed the young girl.

"Okay, Liv. I think I'm gonna lay down now." she told the woman standing in front of her. Leah walked over the her bed and laid down on it.

"Do you want a blanket or something?" Olivia asked.

"Can you hand me the orange one off the back of that chair?" she asked, pointing to a zebra striped chair that sat in one corner of her room. Olivia walked over to the chair and grabbed the blue blanket that was resting on the back of it.

"Do you want it on you?" she asked and Leah nodded. Olivia unfolded the blanket and lightly laid it across Leah's legs and lower back then she knelt down beside her and stroked her hair. "I'm gonna get going now because I have to work tomorrow but I'll see you tomorrow when your Daddy brings you in, okay?"

"Okay."she smiled and settled into bed, closing her eyes.

"Goodnight, Leah." Olivia said before she walked out the door and when Leah didn't answer Olivia smiled, realizing that she'd already fallen asleep. She walked out of Leah's room and into the hallway where David was waiting. "She's asleep." she told him when he noticed her.

"Okay, I won't bother her then. Shall we go downstairs?" he asked.

"Yeah just let me grab my bag. I'm catching tonight and have to work tomorrow so I need to get going soon." she told him and he nodded.

"Okay. Meet me downstairs." he told her with a smile and they parted ways.

Olivia went into the guest room and grabbed her duffel bag then went back downstairs to talk to David. She went into the living room where David was sitting on the couch looking at a picture of his girls that hung on the wall and took a seat beside him.

"What did she say?" he asked after a moment of silence. Olivia took a deep breath and then told David everything that Leah told her. Hearing what had happened to his daughter upset him a lot so Olivia sat with him for about fifteen minutes, giving him a chance to talk, before she decided it was time to leave.

She unzipped the duffel bag that sat beside her on the couch and pulled out a business card. "Here. This has the number for my work phone and my house phone." she told him and gave him the card. "I'm gonna get going now." she said and stood up.

"I'll see you out." David said and stood up to follow her.

When they got to the door David opened it for Olivia and said, "Thanks for everything, Liv. I'll bring the girls to the precinct tomorrow around ten and when all of this is over and the girls are settled again, I'd still like to have that date." he said with a smile.

"You're welcome and I'd still like to have the date also." she said with a smile and stepped out the door.

"Goodnight, Liv."

"Good night, David." she replied before he closed the door. She was happy that he still wanted to go out but she knew that they had a long way to go with the girls before they could even think of taking their relationship to the next level.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

At six o'clock the next morning Olivia's alarm clock went off, signaling that it was time for her to get up. She reached over and pressed the button on the alarm clock before getting out of her bed and into the shower. After her shower she dried and straightened her hair, applied a light layer of make-up, and put on some work clothes.

With everything done, Olivia left her bedroom and went into the kitchen for her cup of morning coffee. This was her ritual. She'd done it almost every morning since she started working at the 1-6. After all she had no family to take care of. No husband to wake up to every morning and cuddle in bed with until they absolutely had to get up. No baby to wake her up at all hours of the night. No child to get dressed for school every morning. No best friend to have movie marathons with, because the one she had left her. Not even a pet to curl up on the couch with her and lick her face when she was upset over a case. This was Olivia's life and she hated it.

Olivia sighed as she poured her coffee into a disposable cup and put the plastic lid on top. Today she knew what was going to happen. She'd go into work and wait for David to walk through the door of the precinct with Amber on his hip and Leah at his side. Leah and Amber would wait with Fin, Nick, and Amanda while she and David explained to Cragen everything that was going on and then... then Leah would have to tell their story. She would have to repeat it several times and every time Olivia would witness the young girl break a little more. It was days like this, cases like these, that made Olivia wonder why she'd volunteered for Sex Crimes. This unit had damaged and scarred her more than she was when she entered it, and she never thought that possible.

There were times when Olivia thought about quitting, times when she would do anything to erase some of the things that she'd seen on the job, but there was always another victim. Always another raped woman or abused child and she couldn't seem to pull herself away. There were still those days where she would see the joy on a victims face when their attacker was put away, or see child smile for the first time since what happened because they finally felt safe again. These were the days that she knew that what she did helped people and she never wanted to turn her back. She loved her job and it was all she had but on those days when she felt like she wasn't making a difference, that's when she wanted to quit the most.

As she drove to work, Olivia though about the life that she'd always wanted. A life where she was happily married to a handsome man that understood all of the baggage that came with her job. She had three children, a little boy that loved playing with his Daddy but was always mama's boy at the end of the day, a girl that was the spitting image of her and also very smart and athletic, and a toddler that she could dress in frilly dresses and take to the park to play on the swings while her older siblings were in school.

Tears formed in the detective's eyes as she crashed back into reality and remembered that this was not the life she had, it wasn't even close. She lived for the victims, because without them to push her forward she would probably have given up on life a long time ago.

Pulling into the parking lot of the precinct, Olivia blinked back the tears that were threatening to fall and got out of her car. She pressed the button to lock her doors and slowly walked into the precinct that housed the Manhattan special victims unit.

"Good morning, baby girl!" Fin said when he spotted his best friend walk through the door.

"Morning, Fin." Olivia greeted him with a smile and sat down at her desk. She took a pen out of the drawer and attempted to do some paperwork but was unable to concentrate on anything but the two girls and their father that would be coming in a few hours.

***Haden Residence***

David woke up to the sound of Amber calling his name through the baby monitor. "Daddy! Daddy come here!" she was saying happily and David was glad that she wasn't old enough to understand everything that was happening.

He got out of his bed and walked down the hall. He came to the door with Amber spelled out in pink wooden letters and turned the knob. When his toddler spotted him she held out the arm that wasn't clutching the doll Olivia had given her and squealed "Daddy!"

David walked over to her toddler bed and lifted her out of it, being careful of the doll.. "Well good morning, ladybug!" he smiled, hoisting her onto his right hip. Amber smiled happily and laid her head on David's shoulder.

He laid her down on the changing table and she immediately started kicking her legs and fighting him. "No change! Daddy stop!" she cried and David smiled, she had always hated diaper changes.

"Amber, calm down. Shh. You want a clean bottom, right?" he asked, his talking always seemed to calm her down. David removed the soiled diaper and replaced it with a fresh one. He fastened the new diaper and lifted Amber from the changing table. "Are you ready to wake up Leah?"

"Lee!" the toddler shouted. She loved her big sister more than anything in the world. David carried her into Leah's room and sat her on the full sized bed.

"Okay, baby, wake her up." he told his daughter.

"Here." Amber said and handed him the doll. She then turned around to where her sleeping big sister lay and toddled over to her. She stood over Leah and grabbed her face. "Wake up, sissy." she said and giggled when Leah opened one eye and stuck out her tongue. "Get up!" Amber said, grabbing Leah's nose.

The older girl sat up in bed and pulled her little sister into her lap, ignoring the pain in her ribs that was advising her not to. "Good morning, Amber." she smiled at her younger sister. "I love you."

"Loves you, sissy." Amber replied and planted a big, sloppy kiss on her cheek.

David watched his girls and his heart was warmed at the image of their smiling faces. He tried to memorize every detail of the moment, what they were wearing, their bed head, even the color polish Leah had on her nails. He never wanted to forget this moment because he knew ,that after today, Leah probably wouldn't smile again until everything was over.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

At ten o'clock, the door of the 1-6 that lead to the Special Victims Unit opened and a man walked into the squad room with his two daughters. The first one of the three to spot the woman they were looking for was his youngest daughter, who had become attached to her new doll. She wouldn't let David leave the house without it.

"Livia!" she shouted across the unusually quiet precinct.

Olivia turned around in her desk chair when she heard the familiar voice. The detective stood up and walked over the where the Hadens were standing. "Well hello, Jellybean!" she said, tickling Amber's stomach and smiling when she saw that she was carrying her doll. "Good morning, Leah, David." she said to the twelve year old and her father.

"Morning, Liv." Leah said, forcing a smile.

"Hey, Liv." David said, holding out his free arm to give her a hug. The two embraced and quickly pulled apart when they were interrupted by a little voice.

"Hold me, Livia!" Amber demanded, stretching out her arms and Olivia carefully took her from her father's hold.

All of a sudden a voice interrupted them. "EADA Haden, what are you doing here?" Cragen asked, walking over to the group.

"Captain Cragen," David said, stretching out his hand. "I am here because I need the help of this unit." David informed him.

"For a matter of business?" Cragen asked, eying his girls.

"No, sir. This is personal." David said and Cragen made no effort to hide his surprise.

"I think we need to talk in my office." Cragen said once he was over his initial shock. "Girls do you want to wait here with detective Benson?" he asked the two young girls.

"Umm, actually captain, I'd like Liv to be in the room with us." David told the captain and Don was more than surprised. Olivia hadn't let anybody call her Liv since Elliot left and she definitely hadn't lit up like this.

"Okay." he nodded. "Detective Rollins, come here." he called to one of his newer detectives.

"Yes, Captain?" Amanda asked with her southern twang.

"Girls, this is detective Amanda Rollins. Rollins is Leah and Amber Haden. Why don't you take them over to your desk?" he hinted at the detective.

"Okay, Captain." Amanda said and went to take Amber from Olivia's arms but the two year old had other plans. She clung to Olivia and got very upset.

"No! I stay with Livia." she said, wrapping her small arms around the detectives neck.

"Amber, let go of Olivia." David told his daughter sternly.

"Daddy, no!" she said and held tighter to Olivia. It was breaking Olivia's heart to see the little girl this upset.

David sighed. "Leah, please get your sister." Leah held her arms out to Amber but the little girl just shook her head and buried her face into Olivia's neck. If she wouldn't go the her big sister she wouldn't go to anybody.

"David, if it's okay with you, she can just come with us." Olivia said rubbing the little girls back.

"You don't mind having her attached to your neck?" David smiled.

"No, she's fine." Olivia answered and then added, "If it's fine with you." The truth was that Olivia wanted to hold Amber for as long as possible. To Olivia, the best feeling in the world was to have a child in her arms.

"It's okay with me." David smiled and Cragen led the three into his office while Leah stayed outside and talked with Amanda.

"So, Haden, what's going on?" Cragen asked once they were all seated in his office. He eyed Olivia, who was lost in the little girl that she cradled in her arms.

"Captain, my girls" he choked out. "they have been abused."

Cragen knew that this had to be important but he had no idea that it was this serious. "I'm sorry, David." he said and the man nodded. "Okay. Well Amber is too little but we will need to get a statement from Leah. I am assigning Detective Rollins as the lead on their case."

"Captain!" Olivia exclaimed and Cragen shook his head.

"Olivia, I can tell by the way that you look at those girls that you are way to close to this case. As of right now I am letting you help but if your personal relationship with them hinders the investigation in any way you will be put on leave until it is closed." Cragen said sternly and Olivia knew by the tone in his voice that she shouldn't argue.

"Yes, Captain." she sighed and kissed the back of Amber's head.

"I'm glad we understand each other." Cragen said and stood from his chair. "Now, you three can go and wait outside. Tell Rollins to come in here so that I can brief her on the case."

"Yes, sir." Olivia said as she stood up and placed the toddler on her hip. The three of them exited the captain's office and Olivia told Rollins that Cragen wanted her in his office.

Olivia, David, and the girls were standing around her desk when Amber spoke up. "Livia, hungry." she told the brunette holding her.

She laughed and tickled the young girl's stomach. "Didn't your Daddy feed you this morning?" she smiled and looked at David who shook his head.

David threw his hands up with a laugh. "I tried, she refused to eat anything."

Olivia smiled at the handsome man in front of her and cuddled Amber. "Well there is some yogurt in the refrigerator upstairs. Will she eat that?"

"Any kind except blueberry, she's allergic." he informed her and she nodded.

"Good thing it's strawberry then. Come on, let's go to the break room." Olivia said and turned around. "Fin, tell Cragen that we're in the break room." she called to the detective.

They all four walked into the break room and Olivia walked over to the refrigerator while Leah and David sat at the small table that was in the room. She grabbed a cup of yogurt and got a plastic spoon from one of the drawers. The detective sat the stuff on the table and then tried to pass the toddler off to her dad.

"Amber, go to your Daddy so he can feed you." she said, trying to give her to David but she just tightened her grip on Olivia more.

"No!" she stated firmly. "Stay with you."

Olivia looks at David nervously and he smiles. "If you want to feed her then have at it, but I know your probably tired of her."

"No, no. I'm really not but if you want her back..." she trailed off.

"If you're not tired of her then she's fine. Besides, she's a little attached to you." David said, noticing the tight grip his daughter had on her hair and shoulder. Olivia smiled and sat down in one of the chairs.

"Leah, are you hungry?" she asked, spooning some yogurt into Amber's mouth.

"No, I ate this morning." Leah smiled sweetly.

Olivia had just finished feeding the yogurt to Amber when there was a light knock on the door and Amanda walked in.

"Liv, Cap said it's time for me to take Leah's statement." she said and looked at the twelve year old, "Will you come with me, sweetheart?" she asked.

Leah nodded wordlessly and stood up from the table. She slowly made her way to where Amanda was standing and took a deep breath. "I'm ready." she said and then followed the detective out.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Amanda lead Leah into the room where they took statements and motioned for her to sit down. The young girl took a seat and the detective sat across from her, pulling out a voice recorder.

"So Leah, can you tell me when the abuse started?" she asked, trying to start off slow.

"It started right after my dad left." Leah informed her sadly.

"How did it start?"

"Well at first she just yelled at us a lot, like for the smallest things and she came home drunk a lot. Mom and Dad never drank, except for maybe an occasional glass of wine." She said, trying to blink back tears. "Do you think we can skip the questions and just let me tell you everything at one time? Otherwise I don't think I'll be able to get through this."

"If that's what you want to do, sweetie." Amanda said and pressed the button on the recorder.

Leah repeated everything that her mother and the men had done to her through tears and when she was finished Amanda was shocked at everything she'd been through.

The older woman patted the younger ones hand and looked into her eyes. "When was the last time your mother brought one of these men over?"

"W-well it was right before I went to Olivia's apartment... so the day before yesterday." when she said this Amanda reached over and turned off the recorder.

"It hasn't been seventy- two hours yet, babydoll , you still have time to go to the hospital and get an examination if you want to." Rollins informed her.

"Will it help your case?" she asked.

"Yes, it will."

Leah took a shaky breath and looked at the woman in front of her. "Okay, I'll do it."

Half an hour later found them in the lobby at Mercy General. Leah was about to go back to have the rape kit done and she was becoming more and more nervous with every passing second. When she was finally called back Leah felt frozen to her spot. It was like she had a ton of bricks in her lap and couldn't stand because of their weight.

She felt Olivia place a hand on her knee and it provided her with a little bit of comfort. She turned her head slowly and smiled at the woman beside her. She took in Olivia's features and suddenly found herself wishing that Olivia was her mother. She knew that Olivia would love her unconditionally and never hurt her.

Amanda was suppose to go in the room with her while she had the kit done but Leah was so scared she was shaking and she wanted somebody that she was familiar with in there with her. "Liv, will you... uh go back with me instead?" she timidly choked out.

"I don't know if I can, sweetheart, but I'll call my captain and ask." Olivia answered, pulling out her cell phone. She dialed her captain's number and after two rings he did.

"Cragen." he answered.

"Hi, captain. Leah is a little nervous and asked if I could go with her to have the rape kit instead of Amanda but I told her I had to check with you first."

"That's fine, Liv. Whatever makes her most comfortable." Cragen said and Olivia let out a breath.

"Thanks, Captain." she said and hung up the phone. "Let's go." she said, looking at the nervous girl in front of her.

Leah forced herself out of the chair and followed Olivia and the nurse back to the exam room. The nurse handed her a white hospital gown and then left so she could change.

Olivia turned her back to give the girl some privacy and faced her again when she received an okay. Olivia looked at the girl in front of her and realized just how scared she was. Her eyes were red and shiny as she tried to hold back tears that were threatening to fall and she had a terrified look on her face.

Olivia held out her arms to the broken young girl in front of her and Leah gladly walked into them. She clung tightly to the Olivia and the tears involuntarily fell from her eyes.

"O-olivia... I'm scared." she admitted and Olivia's heart broke her her.

"Scared to get the rape kit done?" she asked, trying to find out what kind of reassurance Leah needed.

"No. Having the kit done can't be worse than the things... _they _did to me. I-I'm scared that... that they will be found not guilty and we will have to go back." she said, burying her face into the detectives shoulder.

"Hey, shh. We are going to put them away. Everything will be alright." Olivia tried to assure her. She held the scared twelve year old in her arms and tried to comfort her.

A few seconds later they heard the door creak open and the doctor that was to perform the exam slowly walked into the room. "Are you ready?" she asked Leah, who had quickly wiped her tears and was trying to compose herself.

"Yes." she sniffled and wiped her nose. "Let's get this over with, please."

The exam began and Olivia stayed beside her through all of it. The doctor took photos and documented all of her injuries, then it was time for the internal examination and Leah looked at Olivia with fear in her eyes. Olivia smiled warmly at her and squeezed her left hand, the one she'd been holding through most of the examination, silently letting Leah know that everything would turn out okay and that she would always be there for her.


End file.
